The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-11-02

the CONSTITUTIONS OF 1000 anu . :; ~ IL 80
heirz tine present Constitution OF mat otatt,
Where there is no limit ri all. lie takes up
next The state Of Delaware, and quotes rom
line constitutions Of i7a2 and 1891. lhdef
the Constitution Of 1elaWare OF 1891 tnt
Governor il ineligible for any second term At
ali, so that il that argument II used tiSll ms
own candidate is Ineligible to the once 70
which no is seeking to elevate him. Now, Tel
loW-citiyens, under his own QuOtatIQn from
the Constitution OF the State OF De!aWafe,
Gen. Nichols is himself ineligible to the Of
flee, and he quotes that as reason Wily GOV.
Maf,nery should not be reelected.
The distinguished Congressman oyerioQks,
Fellow-cii2ens. the CoHstltntI0n Of Can.
fornia, where there is no Limitation, that OF
Colorado, and the Constitution OF, Con-
necticut. in all of which there is no limita--
ton. lie comes TO the Constitution OF
Florida Of 1898, and quotes that part OF 1t
where a Governor Is not eligible Tor o seeoEd
consecutive term, but fails to quote the Con
stitution Of 1865 and that OF 1868, Where
there Is
10 LIMITATION At ALL.
My friend, like myself, is an advocate, and
he knows how to quote the authorities on
his own SIDE and leave the attorney on the
other side to quote his. | propose to give
tue authorities on orr side of the question.
| have ldbOred in this research and have
gone to the bottom OF IT II my 5udgmenS; put
my friend is reform Democrat, Gnd That Is
the reason why ne DOESN'T give both SIDES OF
My hono=cd friend next quotes from the
Constitution OF Georgia OF l1I7 and OF
1868, allowing two terms OF two years each.
Now, let us take the ConsEitution Of 1868,
the present Constitution Of the Empire State
of the South, and we find there is no ilinit23-
ton al all. 4 third term for { good man. 1t
is all wi II the man. II man Is q good man
and makes a good Governor, why not keep
him inn That is the, reason why these constl-
keep man IN office If You can get MN
there, He quotes also from the CONSTITUTION
OF Illinois Of 1913 and I348, but fails to
quote from the Constitution Of, 1870, the
present Constitution, where there Is no
limitation at all. This thing is lnonotonoHs,
fellow citizens. It is almost clear through
Just this way. Then the gentleman refers to
and quotes the Constitution. Of In
diana aud that ia one OF the. States
that has not been changed, and give INN
that. The State Of Iowa he sklps., lie omlts
that because it has never had any limitation
and he makes 10 allusion to it. 1t didn't
suit his side OF the case. lie next goes TO
Kansas ana quotes from the Constitution Of
1855, that OF 1857 and that Q! 1898, where
there is limitations; but he fails to quote
from the Constitution of 1853. that now IN
force, where there il no limitation at all.
He quotes from the Constitution of Ken
lucky, and that seems to be one where the
provision does exist. He sllps, LOUISIANA
because it is his own State, and he does not
wish to bring it into undue prominence, SO
he does not refer to the
CONSTITUTION OF HIS STATE
of 1879, where there is no Limitation at all.
He skipped the State Of Maine, because it did
limitstio He omitted Maryland, where there
is no limitation: Massachusetts, Michigan.
| Minnesota, in all Of which States there il no
limitation. He comes down to Mississippi
at last and quotes from some OF her old,
antiquated ,cQqstitutions, the Constitution
Of 1882 notably, but fails to quote from, the
Constitution Of sos, the present one, where
there is no, limitation. lie. quotes from
Missouri, where the principle does not
seem to have been changed. He does
not refer to Nebraska, where there is
no limitation at all, Now, fellow, citi-
| Zens, the Constitution of North Carolina
| provides that the Governors term shall be
four years, and that he shall not be eligible
to the same office more than four years III
| any period of eigh! years unless the Office
shall have been cast upon him as Lieutenant
| Governor or President Of the Senate. Just
exactly the situation OF Gov. hcEnery to-
day, yet the Constitution IS quoted against
| him, and il the same prohibition that is i'll
the Constitution, OF Louisiana, to-day, il
would exactly lit his case and make him eli
gible to the Office He did not reach far
enough along the line when ne referred 10
this Constitution. He only read that part OF
itthat. benefited his case. "a voice, 'Re was
| neer.signted."J Yes, guess he was.
Fellow-cit2eDs, the gentleman omitted to
refer to the constitutions OF Nebraska, aud OF
| Nevada, and OF New HAMPSHIRE, where there
| is no Limitation, but he referred &c, the Con-
attuti0n OF New Jersey, where there Is a
limitation He omitted 10 refer to the Con
| stitution Of
THE GREAT STATE OF NEW YORK,
the contributions of 177,7, 1921 and 1916,
| whore there has never been u limitation on
the Office Of Governor. BE refers to the Con.
| stltutiOn Of Ohio Of 1902 where there was .
Initial lion. but failed 70 refer to the Conssitl
| ton Of 1851, rhe present one, where there is
no limitation, except to provide that no mem
Der Of Congress shall hold the Office
Laughter The gentleman next refer.
| to the Constitution Of Oregon, .anL
| that seems to he one where there is q
! limitation. and the State Of Pennsylvania
| likewise. He failed to refer 10 the Constitu
| bon OF Rhode leland where there is no him
| !tatlon, and, fet!ow-citlzenS, no reference
| is made TO the Constitution OF South Caro-
| lima. the cradle vf Democracy, the home o
| John 9. Calhoun. That State once had {
| Constitution that prOvided that the Cover
nor should not be eligible until four wears
| after the expiration Of his term, but the Con
stitution OF 1868, the present one, repealed
that provision and said in so many word
! that the Governor shall be eligible" Tina
is the Constitution OF South Carolina. They
were not saastted to omit the words whereby
so far as to declare the right of itself
The gentleman referred to the copstitu
| ton Of Tennessee, where there seems 70 be 6
restriction, and ne refers also to the con,
| stltution OF Texas of 1885 and 1915, but
failed, fellow-citizens, to refer to the present
| constitution of Texas Of 1876, where there
Is no limit on the right of the people to selec
whom they please for the office of Governor,
and as often as they please. He refers only
to the State OF Virginia. and | admit thai
there is q Limitation, and if they are in tht
| future TO. have Governors like some thel
have had in the past, since the war, it woulc
be better If they had provision abolishin&
| the office altogether. The constitution O.
the State OF Virginia to-day limits the tern
OF Office to, three years, and say, that TIL
people OF virginia are going to find tina
provision III their constitution
STUMBLING BLOCK
in their way when the term OF that gallau
| man, Gen. Elt2hugh Lee, expires, and it Toult
be better for those people If they could keel
him in Office for not only one term. bu
| twenty terms. They have got their uecks in til
halter, and they are going to feel it draw
| Laughter.
Now, fellow citizens. the Constitution o
| West Virginia was referred to. There, Iini
does exist; but my honored friend failed +
refer to The Constitution Of Wisconsin, wher
there is no limitation Mt all.
Now, | will summarize this tier and tel
| you that the cgnssitut:ons of eleven State
to-day, cut OF thirty eight, limit the right o
any man to occnpy more than certain tim
the Office Of Governor, aud one OF thos.
eleven States IL Delaware, which mikes
man incl gibie for any second term at all
and which would exclude Gen. Nichols. An
other j. North Carolina, which would a(lmi
Gov. bicEnery. So that there really are tn
constitutions of nine States of the Union
operating to the disadvantage Of Gov. Bic
Emery on this theory.
Now, | have found upon my research tn
following States in which there hes been
!imitatlon of the right of the Governor t
hold Office heTond certain number Of terms
which limitation has since been changed
Since the foundation of the United State
government there have been rwenty-thre
States III this Union at one time or anothe
which have had this proseripsive clanse il
their constitutions, and of those twenty
three States twelve have changed that pro
vision, and Louisiana is one of them. tn
l,gN,, Il 10 49, = I